The first game of lacrosse I ever saw was in 1988. It featured the gentlemen (hem, hem) of Abingdon School 1st XV playing the ladies (coo ur gosh!) of St Helens School 1st XI in an annual cross-dressing match.

Fast forward 19 years to the Saddledome in Calgary for lacrosse match number 2. As before there were some lovely ladies but far fewer men in gym skirts it seemed. I was there to watch the Calgary Roughnecks vs the Edmonton Rush in the National Lacrosse League so maybe that was to be expected.


Turns out indoor lacrosse is basically ice hockey without the ice. It's got speed, moderate violence and occasional fighting (and mullets!). That's entertainment. But where in ice hockey the interstitial music is just that, interstitial, at the NLL the music stops for no man. So accompanying the game there is an awesome selection of thumping tunes: AC/DC, Led Zep, Beastie Boys, Fat Boy Slim plus what you suspect is all of Jeremy Clarkson's CD selection.

Coming from a UK sporting environment it was great. But I do miss the organic entertainment from the fans we have at home. It seems to me that all North American sports teams in all sports have two identical songs:

Song 1: "Go [your team's nickname], Go!"

Song 2: "Lets go [your team's nickname], let's go!"

It's not exactly "Bjornebye in my gang" is it?

But the game itself is great. The passing is fast and largely accurate and they do all kinds of behind the neck passes and diving shots. I couldn't work out when you weren't allowed to bash your opponent with your stick. My observation tells me anytime is fine. In some places I thought they'd actually tried too hard to make it like hockey. Constant substitutions seemed to slow down the game when there were good attacking opportunities. (I shall be dispatching a letter to the league commissioner with my well considered advice shortly.) Nevertheless it was great fun. Calgary took an early lead but then Edmonton went on a charge and pulled out to a 5 goal advantage (shoddy goalkeeping we decided). But in the final 15 minute quarter Calgary staged a spirited comeback. One goal, two, three... with a minute to go Calgary pulled back to within a single goal. Alas it wasn't enough but it was certainly an exciting finish.